F1 Canadian GP: One place wouldn't change picture for Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen was limited to one run in Q3 at the Canadian Grand Prix, but admits that a second wouldn't have made much difference to his position on the F1 grid.

Kimi Raikkonen insists that being able to make two runs in the final phase of qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix would not have made much difference to his outlook for Sunday's race.

With just one fresh set of the super-soft Pirellis left at his disposal in Q3, the Finn was left with just a single shot at establishing his grid position, opting to venture out after the rest of the top ten had returned to the pits between runs. Unfortunately, just as he was coming round to start his flying lap, some of the other runners began returning to the track and, while not blocking Raikkonen, clearly had an impact on his lap.

Despite that, however, the Ferrari driver insisted that he was unlikely to have improved on his eventual tenth place, even with a second run. Although he conceded that he may have been able to pick up a bit more pace, he doubted it would have made much difference to his position.

"It wasn't a very good lap, but there was only one chance," he confirmed, "We can improve a bit the speed with another go, but it doesn't change our position. [The car] was sliding around and it was difficult to make one good lap.

"It doesn't help [having other cars on the track]. Obviously, they move out of the way, but they are still there. Also I locked a wheel at one corner... With another run, I might have gone faster but, if it makes one place difference, it's not going to change the whole picture."

Raikkonen was quick to defend the latest upgrades brought to Montreal by Ferrari, despite both himself and team-mate Fernando Alonso being unable to live up to their practice pace when it came to qualifying.

"The improvements work - we wouldn't use them if they weren't better - but this circuit layout is perhaps one of the hardest for us," he reasoned, "We realised it was going to be tricky for us here and were missing some stuff for this kind of circuit."

Asked how he expected raceday to pan out, Raikkonen remained pessimistic, particularly with three Mercedes-powered cars that unexpectedly missed the Q2 cut lining up directly behind his Ferrari.

"The Mercedes cars have been very quick in a straight line, so we will have to see tomorrow how it is," he claimed, "We have to make a good start and do the best we can...

"It's difficult to say [anything regarding tyre wear] as, obviously, yesterday we did longer runs [in cooler temperatures] than we did today, so we will have to see tomorrow. It's fairly slippery again, so it's hard to say how it's going to be."